Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Celebrate Without Gaining Weight

We're making salt dough ornaments today. I added cinnamon that smells great while baking, but the dough itself tastes terrible. Salt dough ornaments are part of my holiday eating plan--just one of the strategies I'm using to celebrate in traditional ways, without gaining weight. Here are more ideas:

1. Inedible crafting--salt dough ornaments replace sugar; gingerbread houses decorated with birdseeds instead of candies.
2. Heavenly scents--simmering cloves, cinnamon, ginger and orange peels on the stovetop for holiday smells without calories. For some reason the spicy smells do not make me hungry.
3. Drinking my sweets--sipping holiday flavored teas and diet spiced cider, instead of being tempted by high calorie beverages. I have a small holly-berry teapot perfect for the season.
4. Armor-clad gifts--all our baked gifts will be in the form of whole pies and cakes. It's much easier to sneak a cookie (or six) from a heaping platter than it is to cut a slice out of someone else's pie.
5. Accessible outerwear--my coat, hat, and gloves are pinned together and hung by the door with my son's coat, hat, and gloves. Knowing it won't take long to bundle up for a walk eliminates one of my excuses.

Do you have any strategies for eating reasonably during the holidays? If so, I'd love to hear them. The scale at my doctor's office is waiting for me January 3rd!

2 comments:

Amber said...

Can you elaborate on the heavenly scents ... it sounds delicious but how much do I simmer of what in how much water ... or is it kind of like a mix and match type thing???

I miss the smells of the holiday from my childhood, but I don't know how to recreate it and I think this just might work :)

Shannon said...

Since I've been so sick with this pregnancy (and the two before it) and since I am just now back up to my prepregnancy weight - doctor's given me permission to eat anything I want except sugar (I have a gestational diabetes type problem). It's killing me! I probably ate half a turkey over Thanksgiving, but what I wanted was a big ole slab of pecan pie!
Your ideas are great. I'm really trying to focus on the spiritual side of the season this year with daily devotionals for me and for the kids. So far, that's working miracles:)